It's Right In Front Of You

 “It’s Right In Front Of You”

Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

Last year, I remember a funny moment when I went to find something in the pantry at home.  I looked for it and made a comment about not finding it.  My oldest daughter comes to join in at the pantry door, looks right in front of me, grabs it and says, “Dad, it’s right here in front of you!” as she laughed.  I think I said something to the effect of “Of course!  You find it right away!” as I laughed as well.

We have all had our fair share of times in life when we look for so long for something and someone else somehow happens to come to our aid and finds it almost immediately!  How can that be?  How in the world can we so often miss what’s right in front of us?  How can we be that blind?  We look everywhere, but……how carefully are we really looking?  Are we looking quickly and missing what is right in front of us?  Many times we are.

In the past years, when we’ve asked our girls to find something in their rooms, we have often joked that they go to the door, glance quick and come back saying they can’t find whatever we asked them to look for. 

As I mention these examples, I think about the things God puts right in front of us so often that we miss.  He is daily putting reminders all around us and so often we are so focused on the things we want to see and our own agendas that we totally miss exactly what He has clearly put in our path.  We get so set on our own thinking, our own agendas and our own ideas and we completely miss the great blessings God has put in clear view for us. 

I know that we have all been very consumed in one way or another this past year and even into the New Year, with uncertainty and chaos that has been in our lives.  It’s been easy to focus so much on all the chaos and fear that easily settles in our path and forget that God is abundant with His constant blessings. 

Sometimes, it’s so easy to dwell on the past and former things in our lives and we lose sight of what is right in front of us that God wants us to see.  Some of us are great at dwelling on the past and that blinds us to what God is trying to show us now.  God is making a way if we will just stop trying so hard in our own ways and focus on Him.  If we just slow ourselves down to take a deep breath and let Him lead, we will be so surprised at what we find right in front of us. 

As we continue into this New Year, why don’t we become better at letting Him lead, slowing down, and letting Him open our eyes more to what is right in front of us.  His blessings are all around us!  Do we see them?